Army Air Force Accident Reports from World War II to 1956 are located at the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL 36112, telephone 334-953-5723. Here is the New York Times report on the crash from June 25, 1950: A Northwest Airlines DC-4 airplane with fifty-eight persons aboard, last reported over Lake Michigan early today, was still missing tonight after hundreds of planes and boats had worked to trace the craft or any survivors. An intense fire ensued which almost completely destroyed the cockpit and cabin area of the fuselage. Collided with Beechcraft 35-33 N996T, N5895P was not recovered from the lake bottom, pilot-failure of one or both pilots to see and avoid. South Haven Mayor Robert Burr, along with Craig Rich from the MSRA, read off all of the 58 victims' names. As the airplane approached 22,000 feet, the pilot reported that both engines stopped running within seconds of each other. HOLLAND, Mich. On June 23, 1950, Northwest Orient Flight 2501 was traveling from New York to Minneapolis. Robert Lind, 35 years old, of Hopkins, Minn. According to the CAB report, the plane struck the ground with such force that its engines were found buried as deep as five feet and the nose section was crushed to a quarter of its original size. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. She identifies several factors that led to the deadly accident, the f. Van Heest said the only question that remains is the location of the wreck. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. Instead, it continued its descent, at an uninterrupted rate of approximately 2,000 feet per minute, until it hit the waters of Lake Michigan, which is 577 feet (176m) MSL. UPDATE: Search resumes for plane that vanished over Lake Michigan in 1950. The Coast Guard reported that skin divers had assembled at the North Shore Yacht Club in Highland Park, which was used as an informal search base. "I was disheartened to realize that the burial site has gone unmarked all these years.". The National Transportation Safety Board, Public Inquiries Branch, 490 LeEnfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC 20594, telephone 202-314-6551 or 800-877-6799, has custody of NTSB and CAB aircraft accident reports since 1965. Chicago-Merrill C. Meigs | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives Lind reported that he was over Battle Creek at 3,500 feet and would reach Milwaukee by 11:37 p.m. Central Time. Lieutenant Walter Elcock crashed a Navy F6F-3 Hellcat fighter plane into Lake Michigan during a training exercise in 1945. On ground collision with the lake for undetermined reasons. There was a pulsating sound, but it was not heavy. Van Heest is the authora non-fiction book called"Fatal Crossing: The Mysterious Disappearance of NWA Flight 2501 and The Quest for Answers,"that will be released this month by Holland-based publisher In Depth Editions. Complete failure of both engines due to fuel exhaustion. Taken individually, the aircraft lost in Lake Michigan have historical value for battle service.11However, even though many never saw battle they are still valuable as representatives of their type, or for their rarity today. Inadequate maintenance and inspection was a factor contributing to the accident. 30 . Artifacts lost in the cold, fresh waters of Lake Michigan usually exhibit excellent preservation characteristics. ", Her book is now available online, at Barnes & Noble and through the publisher's, "Fatal Crossing: The Mysterious Disappearance of NWA Flight 2501 and The Quest for Answers. All 58 people aboard the flight on June 23, 1950 were lost when the plane went down over Lake Michigan. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. here's a possibility we'll never find the plane.". On August 16, 1965, at approximately 21:21 EST, the Boeing 727 crashed into Lake Michigan 20 miles (17 nmi; 32 km) east of Fort Sheridan, near Lake Forest, while descending from 35,000 feet . By tracking cemetery records, MSRA was also able to locate an unmarked grave of victim remains in Riverview Cemetery in St. Josesph. No record of this being accomplished was found in the airframe logbook. The Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, and the National Underwater and Marine Agency, a non-profit organization founded by the famous mystery author Clive Cussler, decided in 2003 to look into the crash. Just before midnight Central Time, Flight 2501 was noted as overdue. The pilot lost control of the airplane that stalled and crashed into Lake Michigan. Many planes suffered the same fate during World War II, but this one was . The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed. Another mass burial site was discovered in South Haven in 2015, also believed to be related to the crash. To better manage this assemblage, the Naval Historical Center (now the Naval History and Heritage Command) conducted a limited side-scan sonar survey in May 2004, to relocate several examples in the assemblage. After more than 70 years, the plane is still missing. All 58 people aboard the flight on June 23, 1950 were lost when the plane went down over Lake Michigan. Emergency vehicles were delayed in putting out the fire when their tires became stuck in the rainy, mud-filled corn field where Flight 67 had crashed. See map. See details: See map: N429HD. 11. I knew they were dead.". The craft was due over Milwaukee at 1:27 A.M. and at Minneapolis at 3.23 A.M. He enjoys suffering through Lions games on Sundays in the fall. Near the point of contact there are two towers, each of which supports four sets of cables.